Young Boys vs Red Star Prediction 29 January 2025

🔊 Will Young Boys manage to earn their first points in the new Champions League format? At the moment, both teams are far from the playoff zone. The hosts are at the bottom of the table, having not earned a single point in 7 matches. The Serbian team is slightly better off, positioned 32nd in the standings, but they are 7 points away from the playoff zone. This is the final round of the Champions League, and both teams have already lost their chances to advance further, so their motivation is questionable.

📊 Head-to-Head

The teams have played each other 6 times, and notably, 4 of those encounters ended in a draw. Matches from 2003 and 2019 aren't really relevant as a lot has changed since then and both teams have undergone significant changes, but the clash that took place in the 2023 group stage is worth noting.

In Serbia, the teams drew 2:2, with a combined total of 35 shots on goal, while in Switzerland, Young Boys, fueled by home support, secured a confident victory (2:0). In that match, the number of shots on goal reached 40. We believe such a high number of shots wasn't coincidental. Adding to this the fact that the teams are not under tournament pressure now, we can expect similar high activity from them. We suggest placing a bet on total shots on goal over 29.5.

🟡 Young Boys

In the new season, things are not going well for the long-time hegemon of Swiss football. The team has dropped to 9th place in the championship and is unlikely to reach the playoffs, and in the Champions League, they hold the last position. Notably, Young Boys have been unable to score against their opponents in 3 consecutive official matches, two of which ended in a 0:0 draw.

The hosts have a fairly extensive injury list. Forward Conte has been out for more than six months due to a knee injury, defender Janko has been unable to help his team for several months, although he was a key player before his injury, having played 30 matches last season. Additionally, Filip Ugrinic will miss the game due to an accumulation of yellow cards; he played all 90 minutes in 5 of the last 7 matches, and his absence is irreplaceable.

🔴 Crvena Zvezda

This season cannot be considered a failure for the Serbian team. In the league, they are in first place with a 17-point lead over their closest rival, but things haven't gone well in the Champions League, despite some bright moments. For example, they had a crushing 5:1 victory over Stuttgart and a tight game against Milan, where they lost 1:2 after conceding a goal in the very end. In the last round, the "red-whites" conceded 3 goals from PSV in the first half but managed to claw back into the game and nearly pulled off a heroic comeback (2:3).

The visitors have no injuries, with only Nigerian midfielder Olayinka's participation in this match being doubtful as he hasn't played since November.

⚽️ Goal Prediction

From a tournament perspective, the match holds no significance, but as we've seen from past games, Crvena plays until the end. In their last 14 matches, the visitors scored 58 goals and even managed to score twice against Barcelona. Therefore, weighing all pros and cons, our team concluded that a bet on Crvena Zvezda's individual total over 1.5 goals would be a good option.

🚩 Corner Prediction

Both teams earn a large number of set-pieces. In Young Boys' last 6 home matches, there were at least 8 corners taken, and in this Champions League season, only one match involving Crvena Zvezda didn't exceed a total of 7.5 corners. Therefore, betting on total over 8 corners in this match seems logical.

📝 Match Prediction

Young Boys appear to be a team that has lost hope of salvaging their season, whereas Crvena Zvezda plays until the end as expected from big clubs, regardless of circumstances. In our view, the visitors will push forward from the first minutes, not giving the Swiss team time to make decisions. Every victory in the Champions League is financially rewarding, so Crvena Zvezda certainly won't give up. We predict that Vladan Milojević's team will win with a score of 3:1. To minimize risks, we recommend betting on Crvena Zvezda not to lose.